Monsters
by Vol lady
Summary: We all have them, deep inside. Sometimes they get out, and we have to learn to control them before they control us.


MONSTERS

ONE

When Victoria Barkley woke up, it took her several minutes to realize where she was – at home, in her bed, by lamplight. She tried to move, but soft hands kept her down.

"Don't try to move yet, Mother," Audra's voice said.

Victoria saw her daughter beside her. She tried to say her name, but her mouth was so dry she couldn't even get it open.

"Here," Audra said. "Take a sip. Just a sip."

The water tasted good, but the pain in her side felt very bad. "What happened to me?" she asked, her own voice so weak she didn't even recognize it.

Audra said, "You were shot, Mother. In a bank robbery. But you're going to be all right. Just don't move around. You'll pull the stitches."

"Oh, my," Victoria groaned. "I don't remember any bank robbery."

"That's all right," Audra said. "Don't worry about that. Dr. Merar said that's very common."

Victoria's vision cleared a little bit. She reached a hand for her daughter, and Audra took it, smiling. "What time is it?"

"About ten o'clock in the evening," Audra said. "You've been sleeping for a long time."

"How long?"

"Three days."

Victoria looked around. Audra was alone. "Where are the boys?"

"They've gone with the posse, to find the men who shot you. They left right after the robbery."

"Oh. All right."

Audra caressed her mother's hair gently. "Why don't you sleep some more? I'll be here, and Silas is nearby, too. When you wake up again, the boys might be back."

"All right," Victoria said again and allowed herself to fall asleep.

Audra held her mother's hand until she was sure she was asleep. It was a big relief that she had awakened and spoken to her. This was the first time Audra really believed her mother would be all right.

She just wished her brothers hadn't had to leave before they knew that.

TWO

At the same time, the posse settled down for the night in camp, fifty miles away. Sheriff Madden led ten men, including the three Barkley brothers, and had been tracking the thieves since the robbery occurred. Jarrod, Nick and Heath Barkley were each coping with their mother's injuries as best they could, in different ways. The Sheriff had his concerns about each of them, but so far hadn't felt the need to express those concerns to anyone.

They were all three together, spreading their bedrolls out over their upturned saddles. Nick was finishing a cup of coffee.

"I guess it's the three of you on watch tonight," Sheriff Madden said to them. "How do you want to split it up?"

"I'll take the first," Nick said. "I'm wide awake from all this coffee, anyway."

"I'll relieve you at twelve-thirty," Heath said. "Jarrod, you take over at three?"

Jarrod grunted his agreement.

"Rouse everybody at five, Jarrod?" Sheriff Madden asked.

"The sun will probably do the job," Jarrod said.

"Well, just in case," Sheriff Madden said.

Jarrod grunted another agreement and settled into his makeshift bed.

Heath did the same, while Nick grabbed a rifle and took up a spot on a rock near the horses.

The fire was dying out, and everyone was letting it.

Heath lay only a few feet away from his oldest brother. "How do you suppose Mother is doing?" he asked quietly.

"She better be doing very well," Jarrod said, not opening his eyes.

"I still feel bad we left her before we knew. Left Audra all alone."

"They both would want it this way. If we'd waited, we wouldn't have had the luck we have had, even if we haven't caught them yet."

Tracks were getting hard to follow, but it looked like they were staying in the valley, heading south. So far, the thieves had not split up or given any indication they were going to head out of state, which was surprising.

"You think we'll catch up with them before rain hits?"

"Rain won't hit for a while. It's been really dry this year. And it doesn't matter. We'll keep looking no matter what."

"How are you doing?"

It was a loaded question. Jarrod had been particularly sullen since the robbery occurred, and his disposition wasn't improving any.

Jarrod knew the question was loaded, too. "I'm fine, Heath."

That was it, just "fine." Heath looked over at Nick, sitting on the rock near the horses, kind of amazed that Nick's temper hadn't gotten the best of him yet. Maybe that was still to come.

Heath wondered what his brothers thought of him. Were they angry because he was keeping his calm? He was calm, but not for the reason they might have thought. It wasn't because Victoria was not his birth mother. It was because he was worried about the two of them.

Nick was known over half the state for his fiery temper. Over his lifetime, he must have slugged more than 50 men over some dispute or another, including all of his brothers. Jarrod was known for his determination, in court, and in seeking revenge. Rimfire and what happened there only a year earlier between Jarrod and Cass Hyatt had been heavy on Heath's mind all along, and he thought maybe Nick was keeping his temper in check because he was worried about Jarrod, too. But there was really no telling. They weren't talking about it.

So Heath kept his worries about his brothers to himself and was asleep before he knew it.

Jarrod shook several of the men awake at five a.m. Nick and Heath were already up and moving around, getting coffee and food. Nick had shaved. Neither Heath nor Jarrod were bothering.

Jarrod had his horse saddled and his gear loaded before he took coffee and some jerky. Nick and Heath were right behind him. Their speed was pushing the others to move along more quickly, too. Every man there knew the Barkley brothers were livid about what had happened to their mother. No man wanted to be considered a slacker. Nobody wanted to get on any Barkley bad side. More important, they knew Victoria Barkley, too, and they wanted to disappoint her even less than they wanted to disappoint her sons.

Funny, but not a soul there even remotely considered the possibility that she might have died. It simply could not have occurred.

They were all riding again before six.

THREE

At the same time, Victoria was gingerly sitting up on the side of her bed, because she wanted to try it out and there was no one around to stop her. It hurt like crazy to do it, but she was not light-headed or even shaky. She sat there for quite a while and felt pretty much all right. She wondered if she should try to stand, even if just for a few seconds.

"Mother!"

Nope. Audra caught her.

"What are you doing?" Audra cried and hurried to her side. "You need to get back in bed!"

"Audra, I'm perfectly all right," Victoria said, but pulled her legs back onto the bed and under the covers.

"Not while I'm the boss, you're not!"

Victoria raised both eyebrows at her.

"I AM the boss," Audra said firmly. "And I've been looking forward to saying that for 22 years."

Victoria laughed, and it really hurt. She grabbed her side.

"See?" Audra said. "You're not ready to be moving around too much yet."

Victoria decided to ask the question she'd had swimming around in her head since she first woke up. "What kind of damage did the bullet do?"

"Just a flesh wound, no damage to any organs," Audra said. "You're going to be just fine as long as you don't push things too hard or too fast."

Victoria nodded. "Now, tell me the truth about something else. Your brothers."

"What about them?"

"How were they when they left?"

"Worried about you."

"No. Tell me specifically. Heath – "

"Heath was a rock," Audra said. "I was surprised in a way. He decided right away that you were going to be all right, and he got everything organized so the boys could leave as quickly as possible. I really expected Jarrod would be the one to take charge."

"But he wasn't," Victoria said. "Tell me the truth."

Audra sat down on the edge of the bed. "Jarrod was very quiet, very – sullen. He didn't say much of anything."

Victoria sighed a tense sigh. "Nick?"

"Nick was Nick. He was loud, he was angry, he was ready to tear people apart."

"But it was Heath who calmed him down, not Jarrod."

Audra nodded. "It was Heath – to the extent anybody could calm Nick down." Audra did not like the look on her mother's face. She looked almost distressed. "Mother, now you tell me the truth. What is it you're worried about?"

"All of them," Victoria said. "Heath – taking charge, but sometimes that's his way of taking charge of himself, so he doesn't lose control."

"He's a very gentle man, Mother."

"I know," Victoria said, getting a far-away smile. "It makes me suspect that Jarrod and Nick got their not so gentle sides from me rather than from your father."

Audra laughed. "Oh, Nick is just like Father was, that quick temper."

"That spends itself out in about three minutes, as a rule," Victoria finished. But then she lost her smile. "But I worry about him. That temper doesn't always spend itself out before – "

"Before what?" Audra asked when Victoria did not complete the thought.

"Before he does some damage," Victoria said.

"Well, it's usually damage to inanimate objects, at least," Audra said.

"Usually," Victoria said. "I hope this time isn't different."

"Well, that's one of the reasons I think Heath is staying so calm. He knows how Nick can be. And Jarrod, he's always calm and in charge – "

"No," Victoria cut her off. "No, Jarrod's the one I worry most about."

Audra was surprised. "Jarrod? He never loses his temper. He's a lawyer. He's used to very tense situations, and he can take care of them."

Victoria shook her head. "You weren't here last year, when Jarrod lost Beth."

Audra remembered. "I know. I was so sorry I wasn't here to meet her, and to help him through that."

"There was no helping him through it," Victoria said, and her eyes turned sad and concerned. "Jarrod – Jarrod doesn't explode like Nick does, and he usually is as gentle as Heath is, but he is - relentless."

"Relentless?"

"Like a fire that doesn't go out, just keeps burning under the surface. We told you some of what happened when he went after the man who killed Beth. We didn't tell you all of it."

"Nick and Heath kept him from hurting the man."

"Not exactly. Jarrod was relentless, and brutal."

"Brutal? Jarrod?"

Victoria nodded. "When he left here, he knocked Nick unconscious to do it. Otherwise, Nick never would have let him get out of here. And – there were other people he – terrorized along the way."

Audra shook her head in disbelief. "Jarrod?"

"Chad, the clerk at the train station. He didn't physically harm him, but he frightened him badly. The man couldn't be anywhere around Jarrod for months, he was so afraid of him. And the brother of the man who killed Beth – when Nick and Heath found the man, they found that Jarrod had beaten him badly and threatened him with a hot poker until he told him where his brother had gone.

"Jarrod?!"

Victoria looked steadily at her daughter. "When Nick and Heath caught up with him – he was in the process of drowning the man who killed Beth. The only reason Jarrod didn't kill the man was because Nick and Heath physically pulled him off, and even then – Jarrod pulled his gun on them. The sheriff was – just about to shoot Jarrod when he finally gave it up."

The memory was too upsetting, Victoria had to catch her breath.

Audra held her hand. "Mother, that was a year ago. Jarrod's gotten over that."

"Has he?" Victoria asked. "After he came home, he said he never knew he could be that brutal, but I thought about it a lot afterward. Jarrod has always been relentless in whatever he did. We've both seen it in some of the cases he's taken, and the way he is in court. The negative side of that relentlessness is what came out a year ago, when Beth was killed. If he thinks I might be dead now – " Again, she couldn't finish the thought.

"It's different now," Audra said. "Nick and Heath are with him the whole time now, and now that he knows how he can be – "

"There' s something I've seen in men before," Victoria said. "When they have a strong positive side to their character. Sometimes that positive trait turns negative, badly negative, and once it does, it can come out more easily in the future. It's like some men have said before – the first time they kill someone is the hardest. After that, it just gets easier and easier."

"Mother, that's not Jarrod," Audra said. "And Nick and Heath will take care of him."

"And who will take care of them? Someday, Nick's temper may carry him away, and someday, Heath may lose that control he has because of his gentle side. I'm most worried about Jarrod, but I'm worried about them all."

"They'll take care of each other," Audra reassured her. "And I'll take care of you."

Victoria let out a tired sigh. "Mothers never stop worrying, you know."

Audra said, "So you've told me many times. But this time, you don't need to. I know they'll take care of each other."

Victoria finally nodded in agreement, but she said, "As soon as you hear anything from them – whatever it is – I want to know."

She leveled a gaze on Audra that her daughter knew well. "I will tell you," Audra said. "Now, are you up to some breakfast?"

Victoria nodded, with a smile.

FOUR

The best tracker in the posse was a man named Hilton, a hand at a ranch just outside of Stockton who had honed his talents working for the army in the southwest. He was on and off his horse constantly, all day every day, carefully examining the dirt while the others waited, scanning the scenery for any indication the men they were after were nearby.

On this morning, while Victoria ate her breakfast of soft-boiled egg and toast, the posse came to a campsite that Hilton confirmed belonged to the men they were after. He zeroed in on where they had kept the horses. There was a mishmash of tracks but then there were distinct tracks to follow.

"They've split up," Hilton announced. He pointed down. "The one with the chip in the shoe on the left foreleg – he's gone east. The other two went west."

Sheriff Madden and Nick Barkley had been nosing around the campsite. Nick found something interesting in the grass near a large rock and picked it up. A coin.

Nick showed it to Sheriff Madden. "Either it fell out of a pocket, or it fell out of one of the money bags."

Sheriff Madden said, "They did take a lot of coin as well as paper money."

Jarrod dismounted and started looking at the footprints in the campsite. He found places where each man had sat down – he could tell by the group of scuffmarks in each spot. At one of the sites about ten feet from where Nick had found the coin, Jarrod found another one next to a rock one man had apparently sat down on. He lifted it up. "This looks more like carelessness than coins falling out of pockets."

"What do you mean?" one of the other men in the posse asked.

Jarrod said, "I think they split the money up before they split up. Got careless or were in a hurry and didn't pick up the coins that fell while they were doing it."

Sheriff Madden said, "Possibility." He went to the fire that had been put out and moved his hands close to the ashes. "Can't tell how old this fire is. They used some water to put it out. Hilton, what do you think? How long ago were they here?"

"This morning, I believe," Hilton said. "I'd say they were less than four hours ahead of us."

"And they've split up," Sheriff Madden said thoughtfully. "One east, two west?"

"Yep," Hilton said.

"Then three or four of us go east and the rest west," the Sheriff said. He looked toward the Barkley men. He seemed reluctant to say something.

"I'll go east," Jarrod said quickly. "Heath and Nick can go west. I want one of us catching up to each one of these pieces of - ."

Sheriff Madden had looked at Jarrod for a long time before he said, "I don't think so. I'd rather keep you three together."

Jarrod threw him an angry look.

"You're right!" the Sheriff said loudly. "It's your mother they shot, and that's why I don't trust any of you being apart from the other two! I don't need one of you going off half-cocked and strangling a suspect rather than bringing him in! I keep you three together, you can keep an eye on each other. I got less concern than if one of you is alone without the other two."

The Sheriff shot a look at Heath as he spoke the last sentences. He'd noticed it was Heath who had his head best together, and he told himself, Victoria was not Heath's birth mother. He would be likely to be more sensible than either Jarrod or Nick. At least, so far he seemed to be.

But – "I'll go east with the Barkleys," Sheriff Madden said. "The rest of you go west. Hilton, I'll leave it up to you, but if they split up again, I want you with the one that's harder to track. Wayne – "

Wayne was the regular deputy. He looked up from where he sat in the saddle.

"You go with the ones Hilton doesn't. Whatever happens, I want us to regroup in Merced in three days."

"This might well take more than three days," Nick complained. "I'm not about to quit until we find at least one of these scum."

"Nick, when you joined this posse, you agreed to do what I say," Sheriff Madden said, "and I'm holding you to that."

Heath said, "Fred, we're not going home without at least one of the men who shot our mother."

Sheriff Madden said, "If you decide you want to keep going, I can't stop you, but you can bet my trust in you is gonna be a lot less in the future."

Wayne said, "Fred, why don't you cross that bridge if you come to it? If they're only four hours away, we got a good chance of catching up if we quit jawing and get moving."

Sheriff Madden nodded to that, and everyone who was on foot mounted up. Sheriff Madden and the Barkleys headed east. The rest went west.

FIVE

Nick took over the tracking job for Sheriff Madden and his brothers, but there was not a lot to do. It was easy to follow the horse with the chip in its shoe, because the ground was fairly soft and the man was taking a route that was not heavily traveled.

Sheriff Madden was just beginning to get comfortable with the idea that the Barkley men were going to be all right – and that they were going to catch up the man they were tracking fairly soon – when suddenly his horse reared and threw him. As he hit the ground, his left leg got pinned under him. He didn't hear the dreaded snap of a broken bone, but his knee was screaming from the strain put on it by the way his leg was bent.

As he lay there in the dirt, both Nick and Heath dismounted to come to his aid. Jarrod stayed mounted, looking around intently. Not knowing why the horse reared up, he was taking no chances that their prey might be involved.

"What happened, Fred?" Nick asked quickly

Sheriff Madden tried to straighten his leg out, but he needed Heath's help. He nearly screamed with the pain, but he bit his lip. "Don't know. Something spooked him."

Nick looked everywhere for a snake or a rabbit or something, but he couldn't see a thing.

Heath gingerly felt the Sheriff's knee. "I don't think it's broken, but it sure is strained. Jarrod, you got some of those strips of cloth we packed for emergencies?"

Jarrod took two rolls of the strips out of his saddlebags and tossed them to Heath.

Heath looked around for some sturdy wood to use as a splint and saw some behind Nick. "Nick, get a couple of those branches of wood behind you."

Nick did that and then placed them on either side of Sheriff Madden's leg at the knee. Heath wrapped the strips of cloth around the pieces of wood and the Sheriff's leg, then tied each one off tightly.

"This isn't going to last for long, but it ought to keep your knee immobile enough to get you to Merced and a doctor. One of us is going to have to go with you."

Heath looked at Nick, and then they both looked at Jarrod.

Jarrod looked irritated and as angry as ever. Both Nick and Heath were hoping he would offer to go, but he didn't. He just kept scanning the terrain, looking for the man they were after.

Nick and Heath looked at each other, each hoping the other would volunteer to go, but neither of them did.

"Coin toss?" Heath asked.

"No, for God's sake," Sheriff Madden suddenly said. "Put me on my horse. I can go by myself. Merced can't be more than ten or fifteen miles away. But listen to me, and listen to me good. I'm trusting you three to look out for each other and keep each other in line. I want to see a living, breathing, well-handled suspect in your custody when I see you three again."

Jarrod reached down and took the reins of the Sheriff's horse, while Nick and Heath helped him up to one foot. Jarrod held the horse still while they got the Sheriff up into the saddle – no mean feat for a man his size on one good leg. By the time he was in the saddle, he was in a lot of pain.

He took the reins from Jarrod and caught the look in his eyes. The only time he'd ever seen that cold a look in the lawyer's eyes was when he told him he had to let the killer of his wife go, and that had led to a terrible week for the Barkleys. "I mean it," he said, specifically to Jarrod. "I want that man safely in my custody."

Jarrod nodded. "Understood," he said.

Sheriff Madden knew he had no choice but to take these men at their word, which was usually a very good bet. He hoped to God it was now as he nodded, turned his horse to the southwest, and started for Merced.

They watched him go for a bit before Nick and Heath remounted and Nick said, "Let's go."

SIX

By the end of the day, Victoria was easing herself out of bed and walking a little, holding on to furniture to keep from falling. The bullet wound had her entire left side on fire, but she thought moving a little was good overall, and by the time Audra brought her dinner, even Audra was resigned to it.

"All right, but don't overdo it," she said as she set her mother's dinner tray down on the small table not far from the bed and came to her mother's side, supporting her while she sat back down on the edge of the bed.

"Barbecued chicken – that smells good," Victoria said.

"I thought so, too," Audra said. "Now, sit back and I'll bring it to you."

Victoria lifted her legs back into the bed and under the cover, leaning back on the pillows. "Tomorrow I want to try eating at the table here rather than in bed."

"All right," Audra said and put the tray in her mother's lap.

"Have you heard anything from the posse?" Victoria asked.

Audra shook her head. "Not yet."

"I thought we'd hear by now."

"Well, I guess they're more interested in finding the men they're after than going into a town to telegraph home."

"I hope this is over soon. I'm sorry all the weight of my situation has fallen on you."

Audra sat carefully on the edge of the bed. "Oh, Mother, it's nothing. You're not a difficult patient. Now if NICK was in that bed…"

Victoria smiled. "He'd be bellowing for somebody all day long. He never did make a good patient, even when he was a little boy."

"I wish I had seen that. I only remember Nick and Jarrod as men, really – they're so much older than I am."

There was a nine year difference between Audra and Nick, nearly 14 years between Jarrod and Audra. Victoria looked happily at her daughter. She had been the surprise baby of her thirties – and then Eugene an even bigger surprise a year later. Her older brothers had doted on her, and as a result, she was thoroughly spoiled. "You know, of all my children, you were the worst patient when you were sick."

"Me?!"

"You," Victoria laughed. "When you got sick, Nick and Jarrod would be so attentive that you milked it for all it was worth. Even a small cold turned into a terrible fever – and they never seemed to notice that your face wasn't warm and you were faking."

Audra thought back. "Yes, maybe so. I remember when I was about ten and broke my ankle. Nick carried me everywhere, and I made him keep doing it, even after I knew I could walk."

"I remember that, too," Victoria said. "You were shameless."

"Well – " Audra said, but she didn't apologize.

A knock came at the door, and Silas, their manservant, came in, carrying an envelope. "Mrs. Barkley, somebody just brought a telegraph."

"Oh, bring it here, Silas!" Victoria said. "Who brought it?"

"A runner from the telegraph office," Silas said and brought it over. "He's waiting for any reply."

Victoria opened the telegraph and read it. "It's from Sheriff Madden. He's hurt and had to leave the posse at Merced. He says they're still looking, and the boys are fine."

Audra said, "Well, that's something, anyway."

"Is there a reply, Mrs. Barkley?" Silas asked.

"No," Victoria said. "Would you tip the runner and thank him for me?"

"Yes, ma'am," Silas said and left.

"Thank you, Silas," Victoria said as he went out the door. Then, to Audra, she said, "I was hoping it was good news, that they'd found the thieves and were coming home."

"That will come soon, I'm sure," Audra said.

Victoria smiled a little and nodded, but her disappointment was still obvious.

SEVEN

They stopped to rest the horses and take a short noon meal near a spring that gave delicious fresh water. Nick nosed around the area where they stopped, looking for the track of the horse with the chipped shoe. Jarrod took a seat on a rock and chewed on the jerky they were "feasting" on, watching Nick quietly.

He had been very quiet all along and it was beginning to get to Heath. He sat down beside him and said, "We might catch up to him tonight."

Jarrod nodded. "We will."

"Then what?"

Jarrod looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"We gotta make a plan to catch him."

"That should be easy. There are three of us. We surround him and take him."

Time to be blunt, Heath decided. "Are you planning to take him alive?"

Jarrod looked over at him. "You mean, am I gonna kill him the minute I see him?"

Heath looked back, calm and steady. "Yeah, that's what I mean."

Jarrod looked away, his eyes narrowed and staring straight ahead. He hesitated to answer.

"You don't know, do you?" Heath asked, frankly.

Jarrod was still silent, staring.

Nick came over. "He was here. Took off in that direction." He pointed north.

"That way?" Jarrod said, surprised. "He's circling back?"

"Maybe," Nick said. "He might stay on that route, or he might know we're here and be getting around behind us."

Jarrod got up, so Heath did too. "We better get moving, keep an eye out behind us as well as in front of us," Jarrod said.

They mounted and were off again, following the horse with the chipped shoe.

EIGHT

As they rode, Nick and Heath stayed together in the front, watching for the tracks, while Jarrod laid back about three horse lengths, scanning the terrain in all directions for movement or the glint of sunlight on the metal of a gun or a bridle.

The sun began to lower in the sky, but it was early summer and the night would come late. Jarrod was seeing nothing that said the man they were after was closer, but Nick was seeing something.

"These tracks are getting fresher," he said to Heath.

"How far ahead of us do you think he is?" Heath asked.

"Two hours, maybe only one."

"We gotta think about what we're gonna do when we catch up to him."

"We're gonna take him."

"How?"

Nick turned to look at him, irritated. "What do you mean, 'how'?"

Time to be blunt again, and hope for an answer this time. "I mean, do you plan for us to take him alive, or are you gonna shoot the minute you see him?"

"Well, that depends on him, doesn't it?"

"Does it?"

Nick didn't answer.

"Look," Heath said, more quietly. "I know how you and Jarrod feel. She's my mother, too, maybe not from when I was born, but she's taken me as her son and she is my mother. I want this guy, too. But I want to see him in a cell and in front of a judge. I want to see him locked up forever. What do you want?"

Nick took a deep breath. "I honestly don't know," he said slowly.

"Well, you better figure it out," Heath said, "because I think Jarrod's gonna kill him outright."

Nick's eyes flashed. "Did he say that?"

"No," Heath said, "but when I had this talk with him, he didn't say one way or the other, and he has that same look he had in Rimfire a year ago. You know he'd have killed Cass Hyatt if we hadn't stopped him. His blood's gone cold."

"What?"

"I've seen it before, and you've seen it, too, in other men. You kill in cold blood, it stays with you for a long, long time, and if the situation calls for it again, you go stone cold again. I'm saying Jarrod's gone stone cold, and if you have, too, I gotta know about it."

Nick gave a quick backward glance toward Jarrod, saw him still scanning all around. "Stone cold I'm not, but I don't know what I am," Nick said. "I don't think I'll know until I see the man who shot Mother. I don't know how I'll act."

"Well, you better get a grip and find out, because we may have to keep Jarrod from a cold blooded killing again, and I can't handle you both."

Nick looked at Heath, still seeming confused, but he nodded. At least he's thinking about it, Heath decided. Maybe I'll just have to see what happens, but God, I hope I don't have to stop both of them. I don't know how I'm gonna do that.

NINE

As darkness set in, Victoria was reading a book, but feeling so weak she was dozing as she tried to read. She kept having flashes of a nightmare and startling herself awake. She couldn't really catch what the nightmare was about – she just jolted awake afraid. It happened several times within only a few minutes.

But finally it stayed with her, and she was wide awake. She had been dreaming about her sons, but they were not away from home. They were here, in the hallway outside her door, talking in low tones to each other. She could hear their voices but couldn't make out all of the words.

Jarrod's voice, angry: "I won't…."

Nick's voice, arguing: "…and then what?"

Heath's voice, calming: "…we can…when we get there."

Awake, she listened. Were they home and just outside her door? "Jarrod?! Nick?!" she called, then louder, "Heath!"

Audra came running in. "What is it, Mother? What's wrong?"

Victoria looked confused. "I heard their voices. Are they home?"

"No, Mother, no. I think you were dreaming."

"Oh," Victoria said, realizing Audra was right but still disturbed – even frightened – by pieces of the dream she did not understand. "I kept hearing them, but I couldn't understand them."

"It's all right," Audra said. She gently took the book away. "Why don't you put this away for the night? It's getting late and you should let yourself fall asleep."

"I guess you're right," Victoria said. "But have we heard any more from the Sheriff?"

"No, Mother, and it's late. We won't hear anything more tonight."

Victoria was still very uneasy. She felt like something was really happening out there with the posse tonight, something she didn't understand. She told herself it was foolish. She couldn't possibly understand what was happening so far away, so she shouldn't be bothered by it. She was just worried about her sons. She was just very tired and weak and worried about her sons.

Audra kissed her on the forehead. "Good night, Mother," she said softly, turned out the lamp beside the bed, and left the room.

Victoria was asleep before Audra closed the door.

TEN

Jarrod stopped his horse and said, "Nick, Heath." Then he pointed off to the northwest. It was dark enough now that he could see the faint light of a campfire, maybe a mile ahead.

Nick and Heath backed their horses up and looked where Jarrod was looking. They could see it now, too, through the tops of the trees, off on a hillside.

"You think it's our man?" Heath asked.

Jarrod shook his head. "I don't know, but I don't see any other fires out here."

"Could be him," Nick said. "We better check it out."

They rode quietly until they were only fifty yards or so from the campfire. They could not make out anything except the fire. They stopped, and Heath decided it was time to get things straight. "How do you want to handle this?"

Nick said, "Jarrod and I can cut around either side while you right straight for it."

"We dismount now," Jarrod said. "It'll be quieter that way."

His brothers agreed, and they dismounted and tied their horses to trees there. They each took their rifles out of the scabbards strapped to the saddles.

They huddled one more time.

"We give it two minutes to get into position," Jarrod said, "then I'll go in."

"Why you?" Nick asked.

"Because," Jarrod said flatly, glaring at him.

Heath seized the barrel of Jarrod's rifle and shoved it upward, and Jarrod's eyes flared even more. "I'm not gonna let you kill him, Jarrod."

"What are you gonna do? Shoot me first?" Jarrod asked.

Nick shivered. Jarrod's eyes were like fire in the dark, but he'd gone stone cold just like Heath said. Something in Nick changed then, but in the opposite way. The rage he was feeling because of his mother's shooting was replaced by a focus on his older brother. He realized they could not kill this thief outright. They had to take him alive and bring him back to Stockton, to justice there, not out here in the dark at the point of a rifle.

Then Nick also grabbed the barrel of Jarrod's rifle. With the two of them holding on, Jarrod held on even tighter.

"We take him alive," Nick said.

"Only if he'll let us," Jarrod said.

Nick said sternly, "If you kill this man outright, I will shoot you."

It was Heath's turn to shiver. Nick meant it, and he could see by the flash of an even brighter light in Jarrod's eyes that he knew Nick meant it, too.

Nick kept going. "We saved you from yourself once, a year ago. I don't know about Heath, but I'm not doing it anymore. You have to decide right here, right now, whether you're a murderer or not, because if you are, I will shoot you."

Jarrod stared at Nick hard for what seemed like forever, but then he eased off. "I'm not a murderer," he said quietly. "But I'm not gonna let any of us get killed by this guy, either. I go around to the left. Nick, you go to the right. Heath, you go straight ahead. We'll take two minutes to get into position, and then I will go in with my rifle pointed. The two of you point your rifles where he can see them so I can point them out to him. He'll give up – but if he doesn't, if he tries to shoot his way out, I will shoot him. Or you will."

They could agree to that. They let go of the barrel of his rifle.

With nods, they silently wished each other good luck and moved quietly through the undergrowth and rocks to get into position.

Two minutes later, Jarrod cocked his rifle and stepped into the firelight.

The man went for his own rifle, resting nearby against a rock.

Jarrod said, "Don't do it."

And the man stopped.

Jarrod said, "There are three rifles pointed at you – mine, one to your left, and one behind you."

"What do you want?" the man asked. He was young, dark with a heavy beard. His saddle and saddlebags were nearby, just out of his reach, beyond his rifle.

Jarrod said, "The money, and a confession."

"What are you talking about?" the man asked.

Jarrod moved closer, his expression so intent and so lit by the firelight that to the man he looked like Satan coming out of hell. "A bank robbery in Stockton where you shot a woman for no reason."

Nick and Heath slowly moved in with the rifles pointed at the man. He began to tremble as he raised his hands up. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said, looking from Heath to Jarrod, then over his shoulder at Nick.

"Get up," Jarrod growled and moved a little closer.

The man got up. "I didn't rob any bank."

"Move back," Jarrod said, and when the man took one step backward, Jarrod said, "Three more steps."

As he did, the man felt that Nick's rifle was only a yard or so away from him.

Jarrod bent and opened the man's saddlebags. He found the money bag right away and lifted it out. Then he stood staring at the man, holding up the money bag with one hand while keeping a firm grip on the trigger of his rifle with the other. "The woman you shot is our mother," Jarrod said slowly, frighteningly.

"I – I didn't do the shooting," the man stuttered. "It was the other fella I was with."

Jarrod dropped the money bag and stepped slowly closer to the man. "Sure it was," he growled. "Just like you didn't rob any bank."

Heath began to worry. "Jarrod – "

"No, don't shoot me, please!" the man cried, shaking.

Jarrod stepped closer.

Heath looked over at Nick. Nick still had his rifle pointed at the man, but the man was between him and Jarrod.

"Please!" the man begged and began to cry.

Jarrod said, "Heath, get a rope."

"No, please!" the man begged, certain they were going to hang him.

But Jarrod said, "Get a rope and tie this miserable excuse for a human being up like a Thanksgiving turkey. There's a tree behind me you can tie him to for the night so he doesn't give us any trouble – because if he even looks like he might be trying to wiggle out of the ropes, I'm gonna kill him."

Heath was reluctant to leave to get the rope, but he saw the man had some under his saddle. Laying his rifle down far out the man's reach, he went over to the saddle on the ground and took the rope out. It was good, long and strong. The man made no attempt to fight him off as Heath tied his wrists together behind his back, then shoved him to the ground and tied his ankles with the same rope, bending his knees uncomfortably behind him. Then he dragged the man over to the tree Jarrod had mentioned and secured him to it for the night.

When he was finished, Nick uncocked his rifle and pointed it upward. Jarrod did the same thing.

"How's he gonna ride a horse like that?" Nick asked as they all looked down at the man.

"Very awkwardly," Jarrod said, with the glint of a smile.

Nick and Heath smiled too. It was a flicker of the old Jarrod – had he ever really left? Were the angry eyes and the fierce demeanor ever real?

"I'll take the first watch," Jarrod said, "if one of you will be kind enough to bring the horses up here and unsaddle mine for me."

"I'll go get them, " Nick said and left.

Jarrod sat on a rock, his rifle uncocked but still held at the ready.

Heath just shook his head. If Jarrod had been acting the part of the murderer he almost once was, he had been very convincing. So convincing that even now, Heath wasn't sure what he was.

ELEVEN

Come morning, they tied the man onto his horse and made their way toward Merced. They did not drape him uncomfortably over his horse, but had him riding upright, his hands tied in front of him and anchored to the pummel of his saddle. They traded spots riding around him – Nick and Heath in back and Jarrod in front at first, then with an ugly glare, Jarrod moved to the back and Nick, with a nasty grin, moved to the front.

Heath looked ahead at the man as Jarrod moved in beside him, then he took stock of his older brother. Jarrod still had a mean look about him, unshaven, eyes intent on the trail ahead. Heath took a deep breath and decided to ask.

"Tell me something, Jarrod," he said. "Are you all right?"

Jarrod glanced over at him. "I'm fine," he said quietly.

"No, I mean – what's going on with you? Last night, I could have sworn you were gonna kill this guy as soon as you set eyes on him. Then, when you didn't, I wasn't so sure you ever had that in your mind. What was going on?"

Jarrod let out a sigh. "To tell the truth, Heath, I'm not sure what was going on with me, up until the point I had him covered. I didn't know for sure what I was going to do, and it bothered me. It really did."

"What made you decide?"

"I don't know. I just quit thinking about it, I guess. This whole time we've been looking for these men – thinking about Mother – I couldn't help feeling like the monster was coming after me again."

"The monster?"

"That – murderous thing that came out of me when Beth – " His voice caught. "He was coming out again, so easy. So easy it was like he never left, and when I had this – loser – at the point of my rifle last night, I realized – the monster never did leave. He never will leave. He'll come roaring out whenever HE wants to. It's got nothing to do with what I want. But holding this guy at gunpoint last night, I realized, I can't keep the monster away, but sometimes I can keep him from taking over. And maybe I can use him to my advantage. This character believed the monster had me and I would kill him. It worked. Made it a lot easier to tie him up and take him in."

"I was worried about you," Heath said. "And I was worried about Nick. He really thought you would kill this guy. And he really would have shot you, Jarrod."

"I know. Brother Nick doesn't bluff. That was HIS monster coming out. My fault." Jarrod looked over at Heath. "We all have monsters, Heath, down inside, those parts that come out of anger we can't control. Most of us never see them, but some of us do, and we have to get to know them very well, or they'll be the end of us, one way or another."

"Do you know yours?"

Jarrod shrugged. "I'm working on it. But for now I just want to get this guy back to Stockton as soon as we can and see to Mother."

TWELVE

When they reached Merced, they learned that the rest of the posse had found the other two men. They were locked up in jail, and the Barkley brothers put their man with them, into the care of the sheriff there.

They found Sheriff Madden still off his feet in a hotel room, but very happy to see them and to find out their man was in jail. The Sheriff told them that the rest of the posse would get the thieves back to Stockton. He wanted the Barkley men to get home, to see to their mother, and they were relieved to be set free to do that. They left right away.

Making a straight path home, they were there in a day and a half. Full of trail dirt, unshaven and unwashed, they came into the house and found Audra starting up the stairs with a tray of food for Victoria.

"Oh, you're back!" she cried and put the tray down on the table in the foyer.

But when they went to hug her and she them, she stopped and stared.

"You're filthy!" she said next.

They shared a good relieved, laugh and Nick asked, "How's Mother?"

"She's doing fine. I was just taking her dinner."

Heath picked up the tray. "Allow us."

They all went up together and quietly peeked into Victoria's room. She was sitting up, reading her book as if she hadn't heard a thing, but without looking up, she said, "I hear three filthy cowhands have come in from the trail."

They happily came in then. Heath put the tray on the table in the room.

Victoria looked up, smiling happily, and said, "You ARE filthy!."

"We'll keep our distance," Jarrod said. "How are you, Mother?"

"I'm fine, and even better since you're all home safe."

"Did you get the men?" Audra asked.

Nick nodded. "Every one of them. They're on their way from Merced. We came on ahead to see how you were."

"I'll be up and around in another day or so," Victoria said. "Then you can tell me everything."

"Not much to tell," Heath said. "Fred twisted his knee and he's still laid up in Merced. The posse split up when the thieves did, and we got our man the other night."

"No bloodshed?" Victoria asked, uncertain, and looked at each of her sons.

"No bloodshed," Jarrod said.

"All right, enough," Audra said. "You three get out of here until you've cleaned up."

They hesitated.

"Go!" she said.

"Look who the boss is," Heath said.

Victoria nodded. "She told me she was several days ago. You'd better listen to her."

Nick held his hands up in mock surrender as Audra hustled her brothers out.

They headed downstairs again, Nick saying, "I'd like a drink. How about you two?"

"I'm in," Heath said.

"Likewise," Jarrod said.

They headed for the whiskey in the carafe kept in the living room. Nick poured right away and handed a glass each to his brothers.

"To being home!" Nick declared and raised his glass.

His brothers raised theirs as well and took a swallow.

"To our recovering mother," Heath offered, and his brothers toasted to her as well.

Then Jarrod offered, "To our monsters."

Heath understood, but Nick said, "Monsters?"

Jarrod said, "Those parts of us we have to live with whether we like it or not, and to those around us who help us live with them." He gave a small smile to Heath.

Nick realized he was still somewhat in the dark on the subject, but he raised his glass and drank with his brothers anyway.

"Get – cleaned – up!" Audra's voice came bellowing – at least as much as she could bellow – from the landing upstairs.

And she smiled when they headed upstairs and past her to their rooms, bowing ever so slightly to her authority.

It was good to be the boss.


End file.
